


This is not your city, but it could be

by Writingfish (idraax)



Series: Mike and Matt [1]
Category: Daredevil (Comics), Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Everyone is mentioned, Gen, I don't know what I'm doing, Other, experimental fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-05 08:32:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 7,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4173048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idraax/pseuds/Writingfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>616! Matt falls into MCU Matt's universe. This is a series of snippets based on that concept. Snippets are slotted in according to a rough timeline, so chapters numbers keep changing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a highly experimental work and snippets will be slotted in according to a rough timeline, so expect the chapters to keep changing. This work may or may not be finished eventually.
> 
> I should probably tell you that this started out as a serious attempt at Matt/Daredevil.

The second he stumbles out of the alleyway, he knows he is not in his city. It smells, sounds, almost feels the same except there is an almost imperceptible shadow cast over it. He doesn’t think he would have sensed it if not for the fact that he had fallen through the gap between universes as Heimdall had called it.

He breathes in the air of this new city and expands his senses. He is somewhere to the east of the Kitchen and home is only a few rooftops away.

He sticks to the shadows. He’s in the suit and the sun’s still out, although judging by the drop in temperature, it’s near evening.

The layout of this city is slightly different from his and several times he has to duck behind   dumpsters as people pass him by.  Eventually, he reaches his apartment and starts up the stairs. He doesn’t have any keys, so he walks past the door and heads to the roof.

The rooftop access door is unlocked and he nudges it open with a creak.  The apartment smells the same as his old one in his Hell’s Kitchen and he can feel himself relaxing in the familiar environment. The layout is the same too, but the bedroom is organized differently and it takes him a couple minutes to find a pair of his alter’s sweatpants and a shirt.

As he strips off the suit and gets dressed, his fingers brush the clock on the nightstand and it wakes up with a beep.

“4:30 p.m,” it says.

If his alter’s schedule is anything like his, he’d be home soon.

He folds up the suit. It smells a little and he makes a note to wash it soon. He tucks it under the bed for now, he’ll find the laundry later, and steps out into the living room.

The couch is as comfortable as his used to be and he sits down on it with a groan. This is not how he expected his day to go when the Avengers had called. He takes a few breaths and starts to plan.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should mention that none of this has been edited or betaed, so it's pretty rough. Sorry about that.

Matt stops on the steps of his building. There is a heartbeat inside his apartment. Slow and slightly unsteady, the familiarity of which makes him tighten his hands on his cane and tense his muscles. He knows that heartbeat. He’s always focused on it when attempting to sleep.

Silently, Matt creeps up the stairs and past his apartment. He doesn’t want to alert the intruder to his entrance, so he slips up to the roof. The intruder has been here. The door’s cracked open and there is a slight breeze moving through it. That’s what he gets for leaving the door unlocked. He closes it and tiptoes down the stairs.

“Hello,” the intruder calls and Matt slips off the stairs and his feet thump onto the floor.

The voice is familiar; he’s heard before on court recordings and from the debates he’d done in college.

The intruder turns and Matt can feel the air shift, can hear the heartbeat, but there’s no real accompanying  _smell_ , except for the slightest trace of burnt ozone.

“What are you doing in _my_  kitchen?” he growls and the intruder laughs.

“Yeah,” he says. “This is how I expected you to react.”

He holds up something and it takes a second for Matt’s radar to register it as his coffee pot.

“I’m making coffee,“ the intruder says. "You want a cup?”

“Who  _are_  you?” Matt says, confusion making his head spin. He hears the skin stretching around the intruder’s mouth, a smile.

“You can call me Mike.” He says and turns back to fill up a cup  with water and dump it into the coffee machine.

Matt sits on the couch, willing to go along for now. The heartbeat has settled and the smell of coffee emanates from the maker.  

“Why are you in my apartment,” he asks eventually. “I don’t think I have anything worth taking.”

Mike laughs and opens a cupboard at random. He feels around in it and closes it quickly. Matt frowns at him, something about the way he moves seems off.

“Where do you keep your mugs?”

“Cupboard to the top right of the coffee machine,” Matt says. “Please don’t tell me you broke in here just to make me coffee.”

Mike feels his way towards the cupboard and Matt abruptly realizes.

“Wait, you’re blind?!”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Mike says dryly, taking out two mugs. “You of all people should know what blind people can do. ”

Mike puts the mugs down just as the machine beeps.

“You take your coffee black right?”

“Yeah…how do you  _know_  that?”

Mike fills the mugs, then carries them over to the couch and hands one to Matt.

“It’s a long story,” he says, leaning back into the cushions and taking a sip. “But, the short version is, is that I was with the Avengers defending Asgard from the frost giants when I fell off the Bifrost and into your universe.”

Matt blinks at him. “You’re joking.”

“Nope,” Mike says, still calmly sipping at his coffee. Matt holds his in his hands and focuses on the heat of it; it’s the only thing that seems real.

“Oh,” Mike says, “I should probably tell you, my name isn’t Mike.”

Matt sighs. “Let me guess, it’s actually Matt.”

There is a brief silence before Mike-Matt, whoever he is, nods.

“Matthew Michael Murdock, at your service,” he says cheerfully.

Matt stands, setting the cup on the table in front of the couch.

“Get out,” he says. “This is an awful joke.”

The man doesn’t move and Matt can sense his eyebrows drawing together.

“Battling Jack Murdock,” he says and Matt clenches his hands into fists.

“Shut up”

“That fight with Creel,” the man continues. “He won that for you”

“ _Shut_  up,” Matt growls, stepping forward.

“He won that for you because you _asked_ ,” the man says, swallowing. Matt tenses, body frozen and the air in the room thinning out. There’s something in the man’s voice that reflects Matt’s pain and he can hear both of their heartbeats rise.

“They killed him for it,” the man says quietly, “because of  _you_.”

For a minute, there is no air in the world and Matt is sure he’s stopped breathing. He’s never told anyone about that, yet this man before him is saying it so casually.

“Hey,” the man says gently and all of a sudden he’s kneeling in front of Matt and gripping his hands.

“How,” Matt wheezes, but he  _knows_. “How is this  _possible_?”

“Breathe with me,” his alternate self says. “It’s alright. You’re fine.”

Matt focuses on him, on his breath, lets the smell and sound of them in and tries to convince his body he’s safe. Eventually, his breathing settles into a steady pattern and his alter lets go and sits back.

“Okay,” Matt says, “I believe you.”

He picks up the coffee and sips it slowly, trying to reassemble the world. It’s a slow process, but eventually he manges to fit his alter into the image and then the entire thing clicks.

“Why  _Mike_ ,” he asks eventually, once his cup is drained and set aside.

His alter grins and Matt frowns a little at the sound of his dry skin.

“I pretended I was my own twin brother for a while,” he says. “Foggy was getting close to figuring out I was Daredevil. “

Matt huffs out a laugh and makes an agreeing sound as he collects their mugs.

“Foggy knows here,” he says. “Found me when I was nearly dead after that fight with Nobu.”

His alter -  _Mike_ ,  he has to get used to calling him that, makes a sympathetic sound.

“He didn’t take it well,” Matt continues as he rinses the mugs and Mike nods.

Matt turns towards him after leaving the mugs in the sink and worries at his lip.

"Stop that,” Mike says. “You’ll increase your sensitivity and not be able to drink anything hot for the next week.”

Matt stops and blinks at him. They suffer through two minutes of awkward silence before Mike tells Matt about his plan to go to the Avengers.

“You can’t,” Matt says frantically. “They don’t  _know_  about me. I don’t  _want_ them to know about me, besides they have enough on their plate with HYDRA.”

“HYDRA?”

Matt nods. “They’ve infiltrated the government, SHIELD, everywhere. The entire city’s scared.”

Mike winces. “That never happened in mine, the government infiltration. All they did was infiltrate SHIELD.  I guess I can try and track down Strange in the meantime.”

“I think I know a guy who can set you up with a new identity,” Matt says carefully after a while. “Just in case you can’t go home immediately.”

“Yeah,” Mike says. “That’s a good idea. Who knows how long I’ll be stuck here.”


	3. Chapter 3

They argue about who gets the bed. 

This is a typical host-guest argument, made much more difficult by the fact that neither is injured and both are lawyers. 

Eventually, they decide to flip a coin. 

“This is a terrible idea,” Matt says to Mike, as he grabs a nickel from one of their wallets. 

“It’ll be fine,” Mike says, flipping and catching the coin.  “We’ll do face up. That way we can feel if it’s heads or tails. Why, do you have a better idea?”

Matt shrugs and lets the silence speak for him. 

Mike flips the coin and both of them hear a thunk, but not the clatter of the coin falling.  Matt gets to his knees, feels around and laughs when his fingers touch the coin. 

“What?”

“It got stuck between the floorboards. It’s on the edge.”

“What,” Mike says again, walking over and kneeling down to touch the coin.

“Typical,” he mutters when his fingers brush it. “I guess we’re sharing then.”

Surprisingly, it’s not that awkward to be sharing a bed with yourself from an alternate universe. Both of them stick to opposite sides and Matt finds that having another regulated set of breaths helps him fall asleep pretty easily. 

As to be expected, the next morning is awkward. 

They wake up tangled in each other. Mike’s hands are laced together over Matt’s back and Matt’s are curled together in the space between Mike’s neck and shoulder. 

There is drool on their pillows and on Mike’s shoulder and he plucks at his shirt with a grimace. There’s a bit on his face too and Matt wipes it off with an apologetic smile. 

Mike grumbles something as he gets out of bed and stretches, but he’s smiling as he walks to the bathroom. It’s one of the best nights he’s had in weeks. 


	4. Chapter 4

His alter is…his alter is very intense.

  
The air around them is slightly cool and and the city is in it’s shifting state. He gathers it must be late evening by its sounds. The twists and turns they take are dizzying. The smell of burnt ozone overlays the city and he has to clutch at Matt’s arm to steady himself.

  
Obligingly, Matt slows, tilts his head and hums an inquiry.

  
“Do you smell that,” Mike asks.

  
He had been too deep in this own thoughts to notice, but they were waiting for the light to change and the street to clear.

  
Matt takes a deep inhale, holds it for several seconds then exhales shaking his head.  
“Smells normal to me…except for you, you’re slightly off.”

  
Mike scrunches up his nose and they walk across when they hear the “walk”.

  
“The entire city smells like burnt ozone,” he says. “ _My_ city never smelled like this.”

  
Matt shrugs and Mike can feel the muscles move in his grip. His fingers brush bare skin and it almost feels like he’s touching his own.

  
“I wouldn’t be surprised if falling through space had affected your senses,” Matt says and Mike nods in agreement.

  
“We’re almost there,” Matt continues. “Have you picked a name?”

  
“Donovan,” he says, the grief only a dull sting. “After my ex-wife, Milla Donovan.”

  
He senses Matt’s raised eyebrow at that, but his alter doesn’t say anything.

  
“I’ve decided to keep ‘Matt’ though,” Mike continues. “Just in case.”

  
“Michael Matthew Donovan,“ Matt says and the way the name sounds in his voice, their voice shouldn’t make his stomach curl.

  
Mercifully, Matt ignores his reaction and leads them down an alleyway until they reach a door before gently dislodging Mike’s hand.

  
“I better let him know we’re coming,” he says regretfully. “Melvin’ll get startled otherwise.”

  
Mike nods, squashing down the wariness. Hopefully, the Melvin in this universe would be nicer than his own.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

He wasn’t expecting to run into Foggy so soon. 

It had only been a few days after Melvin had made his identity and Matt had gone grocery shopping. Unfortunately, Matt did not have enough food for himself much less another person, so they’d brailled a list and Matt had gone out an hour ago. 

He was listening to the latest of Matt’s audiobooks when he heard the key turning in the lock. He took the headphones out of his ears. He had lost the story somewhere along the way and caught the words “sentient luggage” before he paused the CD. 

The heartbeat on the other side of the door wasn’t one he had heard in a very long time, but it was just as familiar as his own. It was Foggy’s, before he’d gotten sick. 

He tuned in further.  _This_  Foggy’s heart sounded healthy and he let it settle his senses as his earlier wariness vanished. 

“Hello,” Foggy called opening the door and switching on the lights. “Matt, you home buddy?”

“He went out,” Mike said, rising from the couch. “We need groceries. Hi”

Foggy’s heartbeat spiked and he brandished his keychain at him. 

“Stay back,” he yelled. “I have pepper spray!”

Mike sat back on the couch and picked up the CD player. 

“He should be back in a few hours,” he said, “more, if they change the layout of the store again. I hate it when they do that. It takes me twice as long to find anything.”

Foggy’s gaze made the air around him heat and his heart had settled into a confused rhythm. He made a note to tell Matt to take Foggy to the doctor soon; he wouldn’t go otherwise. 

“…who are you,” Foggy asked eventually. 

“Uh…” Mike frowned. They’d never discussed this, hadn’t even thought about it during the week they had spent getting Mike familiar with this same-different city. 

 _I told Foggy I’d be honest with him from now on_ , Matt had said, so he stuck out a hand and gave Foggy a smile. 

“Hi, I’m Matt Murdock from an alternate universe. Nice to meet you.”


	6. Chapter 6

It wasn’t until he was introduced to Karen that the realization that this was not his universe fully sunk in. 

This Karen was fiercer, tougher. She had a dangerous air about her, for which he was grateful. He didn’t think he’d be able to keep them separate otherwise. 

They’d told her the truth of course. Foggy had talked them into it. He was an excellent lawyer. 

She hadn’t seemed surprised that Matt was Daredevil, but his presence had shook her up and he could sense her gaze on him as he walked around the office. 

“Tell me later,” Matt asked quietly, as he guided him around. 

Mike swallowed and gripped his cane more tightly. One of Matt’s hands brushed against his and he loosened his grip enough so that Matt could slip his fingers in between the gaps. 

“I loved  _my_  Karen,” he said in an equally quiet tone. 

Behind them, Foggy and Karen were still going on about Matt’s nighttime hobby. 

“She died,” Mike continued and Matt’s fingers squeezed his. 

They were in each other’s space; their sensory perception of each other allowing the rest of the world to fall into a comfortable background hum. 

“I thought she was the love of my life,” Mike murmured in his ear. Voice so low that it was nearly off the edge of their hearing threshold. 

“Was?”

Mike sighed and Matt felt the vibrations pass through him in a gentle wave. 

“I’ve had many loves,” he said. “They were all special.”

Matt nodded against his shoulder. He couldn’t imagine that kind of life, not yet, but it had seemed to make his counterpart steadier, more settled in himself, so it probably wouldn’t be that bad. 

“Hey,” Foggy called, breaking them out of their thoughts. “What are you two planning?”

They separated, letting the air and the rest of the world intrude on their space. Foggy’s voice was teasingly suspicious and Matt grinned as he answered back. 

“Nothing. We’re just swapping embarrassing stories about you two.”

“No,” Foggy said in a dramatic tone. “No more! It was bad enough that you brought up that time in college.”

Next to him, Karen laughed and the sound eased something in Mike. This wasn’t  _his_  Karen, but he knew she’d be family all the same. 


	7. Chapter 7

Kirsten was in college, undergrad specifically. She hadn't yet become the district attorney's assistant that he had known in his New York. 

  
He shut off the screen reader, took the headphones out of his ears and titled his head to better listen to the city.

  
He could hear Matt’s heartbeat across town, steady as his own, but a little quick. He winced in sympathy. This situation wasn’t easy on him either.

  
Monday’s noon traffic was light and the hum of the billboard provided a nice counterpoint to the train running on the edge of town.

  
He inhaled deeply, letting the scent of the apartment settle him. The ozone was becoming familiar and he couldn’t imagine the world without it.

  
Matt had left him the laptop as he was meeting a client. He said he’d be back soon, but Mike noted the way he didn’t specify a time and inwardly shook his head.

  
Apparently, his alter didn’t make specific time commitments either.

  
His thoughts turned back to Kirsten, _his_ Kirsten. What was she doing now? He had been gone for a week in the middle of a large case after all and he was sure he’d missed one of their dates.

  
Outside the apartment complex, somewhere on the fifth floor, a bird settled down on the flag pole.

 


	8. Chapter 8

He turns a corner and instead of the street with the pizza place, he finds a church. The church is small and the area around it quiet. Cautiously, he makes his way to the bench, in front of what he guesses is the church sign, and sits down. 

This church does not exist in his universe. Instead, it is where the city is the loudest. In this one, it’s the exact opposite. The world is quiet, the sound of traffic muted. Even the rustling of the leaves is gentle. 

He doesn’t know how long he sits there before there is the sound of soft footsteps and creaking bones. A stranger sits next to him and he tilts his head to the right, looking in their direction. ‘

“Hello?”

“Hello my son,” the man, priest, says. “I’m Father Lantom”

His breath hitches. Matt has told him about this man and something within Mike had tightened and loosened at the tone of his voice when describing him. 

“Mike,” he says holding his hand out. “Matt’s told me a lot about you.”

 _I think_ , he remembers Matt saying in the quiet hours of the early morning, the words said between long pauses of silence.  _He might be the closest thing I have to dad._


	9. Chapter 9

He doesn’t remember much about the fall, just that it was cold and still. On the bad days he thinks he might go mad if he remembered the way his senses stretched, pinging off planets that were probably lightyears away. The smell of burnt ozone is the one he comes to associate with this universe and he relaxes when he wakes up and realizes that it’s the strongest because he has his face in Matt’s hair.

  
Matt mumbles something that sounds like “fucking sleep” and Mike grins broadly into his hair. This may not be his universe, but he’s starting to like it all the same.

 


	10. Chapter 10

One day, he finds himself curled outside of the office, struggling to breathe. The noise of the world around him does absolutely nothing to drown out the guilt.

He hasn't thought about _his_ Foggy.

He curled in tighter and felt his bones creak with the strain. His eyes were wet and the floor was splattering with tears.

In the office, he could hear Matt saying something to Foggy, but the words burst apart into static.

He'd been gone for a month. A month in which Foggy was still undergoing his cancer treatment.

He dug his fingers inward, feeling the skin underneath them tear apart. Blood trickled out and he widened the cuts.

_What if he's-_

The thought skittered across his mind and he burned it right out.

Next to him, the door opened and Matt stepped out.

Almost immediately, the noise around him subsided, his mind latching on to the safe zone that Matt's presence provided.

"What if I can't go back?" he rasped out.

Matt sits down next to him, wedging his cane so that it blocked the door from opening.

"What happened," he asked quietly, keeping his voice so low that they could barely hear it.

"I'm not _there_ for him," he whispered eventually. "Foggy, _my_ Foggy's going to die and I'm not going to be there."

Mercifully, Matt didn't say anything and just rested a hand on the back of his neck as his body started to shake in violent tremors.

Time stretched around them, Matt's presence blocking most of the world out and they stayed like that until he stopped shaking and Matt's bones had begun to ache.

Then, they became aware of the irritated tapping that came from the other side of the office door.

He flinched and Matt nodded.

"I'll go talk to him," he said getting up. "I'll see you at home?"

 _Home_ , that was a word that he'd lost the definition to somewhere along the way and his throat felt clogged with tears.

He nodded, clearing it and Matt squeezed his shoulder before disappearing into the office to talk to Foggy.

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know where in the timeline this snippet falls, so it's coming after the previous chapter for now. You can consider this as being in an unspecified part of the timeline.

It is Matt’s turn to wear the suit. 

Mike struggles to his feet, weight coming down harder on the left leg. 

“You’re not going out there,” he says, voice tight. “You’ve got court in the morning.”

“Neither are you,” Matt replies, gently pressing Mike’s right leg with a sock covered foot. Mike’s muscles tense underneath. 

“I’ll be fine.” 

He leans further or his left leg as he makes is way across the room and to the chest. His breathing is slightly shallow and Matt can smell the faint, copper of blood. 

“You’ve torn open a stitch.”

Mike swears and starts to make his way back. 

Matt sighs. “Stay there”

He gets up from the kitchen table, walks over to the couch and bends down to get the first aid kit stored underneath. Then, he makes his way over to Mike. 

“Claire said the knife  _nearly_  cut the bone and that you should  _stay off_ the leg for a while. It’s  _my_ turn in the suit, so let me go.”

Mike grits his teeth as Matt presses the needle into his skin and begins stitching up the gash. 

“You have _court_  tomorrow. You can’t show up injured, the judge is asking questions.”

Matt sighs again. This argument is going to get them nowhere. Instead, he finishes stitching up the gash and closes the kit before rising and moving to the window. He tilts his head to the left; his hearing’s stronger in the right ear and Mke’s is stronger in the left, one of the few differences between them. 

The city is quiet. There is the faint wail of sirens and the sound of water dousing fire somewhere to the east, but it’s well under control. Emergency services seems to be quick tonight. 

He turns and moves to sit on the couch before tugging Mike gently down. Mike comes with an ‘oof’ and his injured leg winds up across Matt’s lap. 

“The city’s quiet tonight,” Matt says. “No need for either one of us to go out.”

It’s useless to lie, so Mike fishes out the CD player from between the cushions and leans back with a grumble. He hands a headphone to Matt and hits play. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know where in the timeline this snippet falls, so it's coming after the previous chapter for now. You can consider this as being in an unspecified part of the timeline.

Memory stirs sharply as he smells the familiar perfume.  _Milla_ Nothing about her has faded, unlike his memories about Karen. His memories about his Karen are overwritten by the his memories of this Karen. Milla’s remain untouched. 

He’s alone, stopped on the street long enough for people to start giving him looks he can sense as electric charges prickling at his skin. Quickly, he stepes out of the path and takes his phone out. 

Matt picks up immediately, tone harried. 

“Mike,” he asks. “Did you get lost again?”

“Sorry,” he says and _knows_ that his tone is going to make Matt pay attention. “Are you busy? I can call back?”

“No!” Matt says. “It’s fine, we just had a client leave. She didn’t like Foggy.”

“Ah,” Mike says. “Then she’s got terrible judgement.”

Matt makes an agreeing sound before inhaling.

“What’s going on?”

Mike leans against the wall, brick warm and digging into his shirt. The world is loud, but he doesn’t mind; it’s keeping him grounded. For a moment, he can feel the earth turning beneath his feet as the planet moves through space in it’s fixed orbit. It’s afternoon, the heat of everything blazing as it slowly fades. 

He takes a breath and speaks. “I saw Milla.”


	13. Chapter 13

Matt finds the letter one day as he’s looking for a file. It’s in one of the folders, triple folded and tucked in the back. He doesn’t mean to, but his fingers brush over the name ‘Milla’ and he reads the rest to see if Mike is trying to contact her, or so he justifies to himself. 

 It’s not to the Milla in this universe, it’s not even to the Milla in the hospital in Mike’s universe. It’s to the Milla in the past, the one that may not exist anymore.  He reads one paragraph before folding it up with shaking fingers. The letter is about ten paragraphs long. He takes slow, deep breaths trying to breathe around the sudden obstruction in his chest. The world feels too much and he feels dizzy with the sensation of the earth turning far beneath him. 

After a while, he tucks the letter back into its place, finds his file and sits at the kitchen table, fingers running absently over the braille. 

* * *

Later, one day, Mike finds a brailled letter lying on their coffee table. He picks it up, fingers stuttering. It’s addressed to Milla, but it isn’t one of his. 

He reads three lines, before collapsing onto the couch. He drops the letter to grip his hair, which now was almost to his nose. Grief swells up in him, a sudden thunderstorm that makes him curl up on the cushions and sob quietly into the fabric. 

When Matt comes home, he finds that Mike has made their favorite comfort food and the air smelling like tears. The letter is gone from the coffee table, but Mike gives him a quiet thank you as he passes Matt a plate. 

 


	14. Chapter 14

Matt meets the man with the metal arm by bumping into him after work. He’s on his way home, tiredly moving through the streets. His head is ringing from the headache that had never left from last night and he had to text Mike that he was skipping his turn in the suit. 

He bumps into the man and mumbles a sorry, before he lists to one side. The man catches him with the arm that is too cold to be human and too metal to be a prosthetic. It hums oddly, the vibrations strangely soothing and his headache dims just a little. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles again. “I’ve got a really bad headache.”

The man laughs a little. His voice is tired, but his laugh is loose, easy. His body quivers from tiredness and strain.

“I had a friend like that,” he says softly. “A good cup of tea always settled him.”

Matt humms an assent, leaning back into the slightly damp brick of the building next to him. The rain had stopped before he left the office, but the scents of the world were still dampened, still wet. 

“Know any good tea shops,” he asks, careful to keep his voice low. A car goes by and he winces as the throbbing in his head intensifies and momentarily blocks out the rest of the world. Next to him, the man tenses and looks around them. 

“Yeah,” he says after a while. “I actually found this place yesterday. Bandit’s Cafe, have you heard of it.”

Matt smiles and feels around for the man’s elbow, taking it gingerly in his left hand. 

“Yeah,” he says. “They have the best tea in Hell’s Kitchen.”

“Great,” the man says, a little too enthusiastic and for a moment Matt’s worried, but then, he senses the steady heartbeat on the roof across from them. 


	15. Chapter 15

The heartbeat on the roof follows them all the way to the cafe. The man, Bucky-he’d called himself, never relaxed, but tugged Matt along gently, pointing out obstacles in their path. 

“You’ve done this before,” Matt observes and Bucky’s muscles tighten underneath his fingers. 

“I think I had a cousin who was blind,” he says. “I can’t really remember anymore.”

Matt doesn’t press. He knows about secrets, knows that this man is keeping so many of them, knows the sniper on the roof isn’t after him. 

They reach the shop and slip inside. The heartbeat on the roof settles into the waiting pattern and he slips his phone out to text Mike. 

“Hey,” he says speaking into the phone. “I made a new friend. We’re at Bandit’s getting tea. I’ll be there in an hour.”

He hangs up and feels Bucky’s amusement radiating off him. He’s loosened up, still tense, but his stance has relaxed some and he orders his drink without any tension in his voice. 

“Boyfriend,” he asks, once Matt’s done ordering and they’re walking towards a pair of seats near one of the back corners. 

Bucky sits him down near one of the walls and sits opposite, body angled slightly to face the window. 

“Something like that,” he replies and Bucky snorts. 

“Yeah,” he says, wistfully. “I had someone like that too.”

Matt’s phone rings. It’s Mike, actually calling for once. 

“Hey,” he says. “What’s wrong?”

Matt hasn’t said a word, but his breathing is somewhat pained and his body hurts. The tea isn’t here yet, but he’s looking forward to getting the warm mug in his hands. 

“Headache,” he whispers and hears Mike wince. 

“I’ll come get you,” Mike says in an equally low tone. “It’s supposed to rain again.”

Matt groans. Rain makes the world louder, the drops bouncing off surfaces and reverberating through his head. Normally, he’d enjoy it because he’d be able to get a more detailed idea of his surroundings, but now it would just make his headache worse. 

“Please,” he whispers, hangs up and gratefully takes the mug that’s pressed into his hands. 


	16. Chapter 16

Water dripped off everything by the time Mike stepped out of the apartment. The overpowering smell of damp earth and the faint smell of trash and urine buffets him before he forces them to fade into the background of his mental map. His street is empty and he crosses easily. Traffic is light in the city and there aren’t many people around, so he hears the sniper’s heartbeat a block away from the cafe. 

He picks up his pace as much as he can with the sidewalk still slippery. His shoes squeak and his cane slips and slides until it bumps into glass. 

He reaches out with a hand and feels the blazing heat of a metal handle. Its painted with something as part of the paint has chipped off at the bottom. The smell of coffee, tea and bread permeates through the gap where the door met jamb. 

He pulls the door open and hopes it’s the right place. 

* * *

It’s crowded inside and he steps to the side, lets the door close behind him and takes a moment to absorb the noise. There’s a couple to the left of him whispering about how they’d like to invite him for a threesome. 

 _Sorry_ , the thought bubbles up,  _I’m taken._  

He’s glad he’s leaning against the wall because the world flips a little bit. He turns the thought over in his mind, relegates it to ‘later’ and hones in on Matt’s heartbeat which is slightly stressed. 

Frowning, he makes his way over. 

Matt’s companion’s heartbeat picks up at his approach, but slowly relaxes into it’s previous tense beat. For a moment, Mike worries about his heart, but then Matt mumbles his name and he’s pulling out the pills he’d grabbed before leaving. 

“Take these,” he orders in the quietest tone he can manage that still manages to be heard by Matt’s companion above the noise. He presses the bottle into Matt’s hand and Matt grimaces, but uncaps the bottle and takes the pills anyway. He does so without complaint and Mike knows he has to get him home. 

“Can you help me get him home,” Mike asks, leaving a pause for the man to fill in his name. 

“Bucky,” the man says. “Yeah, I can.”

 _Well,_  Mike thinks,  _that explains the sniper on the roof._


	17. Chapter 17

They managed three blocks before the sniper decides to shoot. The bullet whizzes past them, heating up the surrounding air. Instantly, Bucky throws himself at Mike. Matt had already crouched down, holding his head and gritting his teeth. 

“Shit,” Bucky mutters. “They found me.”

“HYDRA,” Mike asks and senses Bucky’s nod. 

The sniper shoots at them again and Mike manages to drag them all into a nearby alleyway and behind a dumpster. 

“We need a plan,” he whispers to Bucky. 

“Need to get out of the street,” Matt mumbles, voice strained. He’s still shaking and for a moment, Mike worries that he’s bit his tongue, but there’s no smell of blood. 

Bucky inhales and immediately, Mike shakes his head. 

“You’re not drawing their fire,” he says and feels Bucky suppress a jolt. 

“They know who we are,” he continues. “They’ve watched us. Chances are they’re going to come after us even if you distract them.”

“How,” Bucky starts, but is interrupted by another gunshot as the sniper decides they’ve waited long enough. 

“Explanations later,” Mike hisses as he hauls Matt upright and they back further into the alleyway. “We need a _plan_.”

“Can distract them,” Matt slurs as he sluggishly climbs the nearest fire escape. It’s nearly completely in the shadows so Mike hopes that the sniper hasn’t spotted them. No such luck. 

A bullet clangs off the metal and a sickly sweet metallic smell fills the air. 

“ _Matt_ ,” he gasps, scrambling up. Behind him, he can sense Bucky following, but he puts that into the background and focuses.

Matt’s body’s tense, heart beating faster than normal and breath coming shallowly. The blood smell’s there, but it’s faint, already fading. 

“Grazed my fingers,” Matt grunts and hauls himself onto the roof. 

Mike and Bucky climb up after him. Bucky hisses as he sees the roof. It’s pretty open; Mike can feel the air moving across it with nothing to obstruct it. There’s a door in the right corner across from them and Mike hopes it’s unlocked. They could use a bit of luck right now. 

He finds Matt’s face, hand drifting down to feel the pulse in his neck. Matt’s breathing’s still shallow, but it’s steady and his heart’s beating a little less rapidly. 

“Are you meditating,” he asks as he moves to grip Matt’s hand and pull him up. 

Matt sways into him and nods. 

“Trying to,” he whispers back. 

Together, they stagger towards the door. 

Bucky’s already opened it and Mike can hear his eyebrows narrow as he looks at them. 

“He okay,” he asks. 

“It’s a _really_ bad headache,” Mike whispers. “We’ve got to get rid of this guy soon.”

Bucky grunts an affirmative and they tiptoe down the stairs. 


	18. Chapter 18

The apartment building they walk into is one of the earliest in the Kitchen. The sound of flickering bulbs makes Matt cling tightly to him and wimper softly. Mike himself grimaces as they pass beneath them.

“They won’t risk shooting,” Bucky says. “We’re not in their sightline.”

Next to him, Matt mutters something that sounds like police and he can sense Bucky’s nod.

“Someone would’ve called ‘em,” he replies. “We can let them catch the guy.”

“Good idea,” Mike says and steers Matt to lean against the wall.

Matt groans and Mike rubs at the frown lines on his forehead.

“You’re a good boyfriend,” Bucky says, across from them.

Mike doesn’t correct him though he knows he should. He’s too busy listening for the sniper is what he tells himself, later.

“I think it’s safe,” he says after a while and Bucky scoffs. He doesn’t speak, so Mike lets it go.

“Come on,” he says gently, as he slips underneath one of Matt’s arms. “We’ll be home soon.”

Matt leans against him and some of the tension leaks out. Mike knows from experience not to hope.  

Ahead of them, to the right, opens a door. A woman sticks her head out and after a moment Mike places her heartbeat. It’s Karen. She’s not wearing any of her usual perfume, but there’s the faint tang of chemicals on her skin. She’s wearing makeup.

“ _Mike_ ,” she says stepping forward. “What are you doing here?”

Mike shrugs as he feels Bucky tense beside him.

“We were in the neighboorhood,” he says, gesturing to Matt. “We thought we’d say hi”

“And him?”  she gestures to Bucky who does his best to smile, or at least that ’s what Mike thinks he’s trying to do by the way the muscles in his face shift.

“Apparently, he’s your new next door neighboor,” Mike says cheerfully, swinging the arm that’s currently not holding matt upright around Bucky’s shoulders. He grins broadly. “We’re getting along great!”

Bucky groans under his breath and Mike can sense Karen’s frown. She steps forward, until she’s in his space and for a moment he thinks she’s  _his_  Karen, but then he get’s a whiff of her perfume, rose with a hint of cinnamon, and the all pervasive smell of burnt ozone underneath. Reality sinks in, an unwanted anchor in an ocean of dreams and his smile vanishes.

“Mike,” Karen asks, concerned.

He shakes his head, clears his throat and forces the tears out of his voice before he speaks.

“Sorry, you reminded me of  _her_  for a moment.”

“Oh,” Karen says in a very quiet voice and they fall into heavy silence.

Matt leans further into him and mumbles something that Mike chooses to ignore. He can feel Bucky’s gaze move between all of them, but he doesn’t ask and Mike’s grateful. He takes another breath, let’s his lungs fill with stuffy air and forces himself to exhale slowly. Outside of the building comes the sound of near-silent, heavy footsteps.

“I should call Foggy,” Karen says breaking the silence. “I was supposed to meet him at Josie’s in five minutes. It’s eel night.”

For a moment, something ugly bubbled up and Mike wondered if Matt would have felt it if not for the headache.

“Great,” he replies, digging out a grin. “We’re heading in that direction too! We’ll walk you.”

Karen sighs and leans against the wall. She folds her arms and her bones creak a bit.

“Okay,  _what’s_  going on?”

Mike blinks in her direction and next to him, Bucky laughs under his breath.

“I don’t understand,” Mike replies to both of them.

The hair on the back of his neck rises and he knows Karen is glaring at him.

“You’re too  _cheerful_  to be honest,” she says bluntly. “Be serious”

“There’s a sniper after me,” Bucky says quietly. “They got caught up in this.”

He gestures to the both of them and nearly hits Mike in the nose. Mike barely manages to step back in time and the smell of rusted metal overwhelms him.

Karen takes a deep breath, then swings around and unclips her keys from inside her purse. She’d locked the door earlier and Mike cursed himself for not noticing.

She opens the door and grabbs Matt, who’s the closest to her, and tugs him in. He groans quietly and Mike can hear his stomach churn. Karen shoves him on the couch and Bucky locks the door behind all of them.

“Right,” Karen says, rumaging around in a drawer and handing a piece of paper to Bucky. “There’s a fire escape here and an alleyway over here.”  

She taps two places on the map, nail dragging over old paper.

“Okay,” Bucky says and rolls the map up, tucking it in a pocket.

“I’ll stay here and distract anyone asking questions,” Karen continues as she opens a door and tosses fabric out at them.

“Foggy left some stuff here,” she calls, voice muffled as she steps completely into the closet. “It probably won’t fit very well, but you should be able to use it as a temporary disguise.”

She comes back with more clothes. They still smell like Foggy and he files all of it away for later consideration. She hands him a bottle full of pills. It’s pretty full judging by the rattle.

“That’s for Matt, "she says, heading to the kitchen and filling a glass with water. "They’re pretty strong, but give him however many you think he needs.”

She sets the glass on the table near Matt’s head and steps back. Mike shakes out two of the pills and gently pushes at Matt’s shoulder with his other hand.

“Hey ,” he says, keeping his voice low. “You have to take these.”

He places them into one of Matt’s palms and curls his fingers around them. Matt swallows them without complaint and carefully sips from the glass that Mike hands him after. His breathing evens out slowly and his heartrate slows-he’s falling asleep.

“I don’t think we should take him with us,” Bucky says quietly and Mike nods.

“We can move him to my bedroom” Karen says, equally quietly as she slips up beside them. “As long as no one tries to get in, we should be fine.”

“I don’t like this,” Mike mutters as quietly as he can, but he knows they heard from the way Bucky pats him on the shoulder and Karen inhales sharply.

“We don’t have a choice,” Bucky says as gently as he can. His voice is dark and sad and Mike wonders if he’s thinking of Rogers or someone else.

Mike nods, throat strangely tight as he kneels beside the couch.

“Come on,” Karen whispers to Bucky behind him. “You can change in the bathroom.”

She leads him way and he’s left alone with Matt, who’s already fallen asleep.

Gently, he reaches up and presses his fingers against the sides of Matt’s forehead. He rubs slowly, skin slightly cool against his fingertips. Some of the muscles in Matt’s face ease further and he breaths out softly as his body sinks into the couch.

Somewhere in Mike’s mind are words starting to form. They have the same feelings as the ones he’d said to Milla, that he’d wanted to say to  _his_  Karen. He opens his mouth, but the syllables slip from him and so, he just takes a moment to breathe as he fixes their heartbeats in memory.

Then, he straightens, scoops Matt up from the couch and walks towards Karen’s bedroom.


End file.
